Sanity
by Daisainan Neko
Summary: Ino finds something weird in her pudding... That Uzumaki boy never fails to amaze and it's just enough to charm Ino! He's her warmth on a cold winter day. NaruIno minor SasuSaku!


Ino hugged her arms to her body, wishing she had remembered her coat. The cold air blew around her as she walked to school, the ground covered in a thin layer of snow. It was mornings like this that Ino questioned her sanity. How could she have forgotten her coat? It's already January! She was only sixteen; she couldn't possibly be senile yet… could she?

"How silly," a voice beside her commented cheerily.

Ino jumped and looked to her side and found none other than Uzumaki Naruto grinning at her.

"Naruto!" she said, not sure how she felt about him being here. She continued to rub her arms and he frowned.

Naruto shrugged off his orange (of course) coat and held it out to her.

"Here!" he said, big grin still in place.

Ino slowly took the coat and slipped it on.

"Thanks," she said, still somewhat surprised.

Ino watched Naruto curiously as he shoved his hands in his pockets, looking ahead and humming. The chilled wind blew through his blond hair (darker than her own) and she suddenly loved the way he looked against their cold, white surroundings. Shaking her head, the Yamanaka forced herself out of her thoughts. But then again, what was stopping her from fantasizing about other boys now? Sakura had Sasuke, that lucky little forehead girl. But this was Naruto! For some reason, he never really seemed to be anywhere near her considerations. Now that they were in high school, he had matured in more ways than one, sure, but still…

Her thoughts were broken off as she heard the chatting of other students. Looking up, Ino found them at the school campus. Reluctantly shrugging off the warm coat, Ino held it out to Naruto.

"Thank you again," she said, smiling.

Naruto laughed and shook his head. Ino stood there, surprised, but soon enough put her hands on her hips.

"What?!" she demanded.

Naruto's laugh died down to be replaced by a huge grin directed at her. Ino felt her stomach flutter. It was… strange.

"Keep it of course!" he waved as he ran off, still grinning. "Ja ne, Ino-chan!"

Ino stood in that same spot for a while, watching him run off. He… had added the honorific '–chan'… She eventually pulled the coat back on and blushed, finding she enjoyed its smell.

…

Sakura quickly pecked Sasuke on the lips as the bell rang and they headed their separate ways. Sasuke forced down a smile as he walked away.

Sakura had Sasuke's black winter coat wrapped around her and Sasuke had her red one. Luckily it had always been too big for her. Sakura had insisted they do this, but Sasuke argued, insisting it was too cliché and that even if he did go along with it, she would wear his but he wouldn't wear hers.

A few make-out sessions later, Sakura won.

"Sakura!" the pinkette turned to find Naruto running towards her. "I need a favor."

"What?" she asked skeptically, suspecting he wanted her to help him do something involving ramen.

Naruto held something up in his gloved hand and the minute Sakura saw what it was, she couldn't resist knowing more.

…

Yamanaka Ino officially hated school. All morning had been note taking, along with a teacher yelling at her when she had to go to the bathroom, making a fool out of her in front of the whole class. Now she stood in the lunch line next to Karin and Suigetsu. GREAT.

"Should I get low fat milk or soy milk?"

"Like I care, it won't make a difference anyway."

"At least I don't have purple eyes and wear purple clothes! You're so fruity!"

"I'm not the one who obsesses over guys like a psycho."

"SHUT UP! I DON'T OBSESS, I LOVE!" Karin threw a milk carton at Suigetsu's head.

"Hey, guess what sound I hear?" Ino asked with fake enthusiasm.

Karin and Suigetsu froze.

"What?" Suigetsu asked.

"The sound of you two shutting up and getting a room!" Ino roared before stomping ahead of them in line.

Ino finally got her lunch and sat at her usual table with Sakura, Hinata, Tenten, and Temari. Sighing, she sat down and placed her chin in her hand, listening to the others talk.

Suddenly Sakura turned towards her.

"Hey Ino, do you want my pudding?"

It was chocolate, so heck yes she did.

"Sure!"

Sakura scooped her pudding onto Ino's tray in one big shove of her spoon.

"Arigatou, Sakura."

"No problem!" Sakura turned back to her lunch, watching Ino from the corner of her eye.

As Ino ate the chocolate pudding, she began to feel a bit better. Chocolate always worked that way.

Half way through eating the pudding, Ino saw something shining in it. Scooping around she pulled out what looked like a necklace. It was made of purple diamonds shaped as a heart, with 'YI & UN' written delicately in silver in the middle of the heart.

UN… Uzumaki Naruto…

Ino stared at the necklace in shock for what seemed like hours. In reality, it was just a few minutes. She noticed Sakura grinning at her.

"D-Did you…?"

Sakura laughed.

"He asked me to put it in pudding and nonchalantly offer it to you," she rolled her emerald eyes. "So like him, ne?"

A smile slowly broke onto Ino's face and she slipped the silver chain on, running her fingers over the heart.

That strange, strange boy.

…

That afternoon, Ino slipped the orange coat on and waved goodbye to Sakura as she began to walk home.

As she walked, she reached up and grasped the heart. A new, warm feeling spread through her. What is this?

Suddenly Ino felt someone walking beside her and she snapped her head up. Her blue eyes widened as they looked up into blue eyes a shade darker. She couldn't speak.

Naruto grinned at her and as the warm feeling spread she grinned too and burst into a small fit of laughter.

She was still smiling as he gently took her hand and walked them down the street. Their eyes didn't leave each other's and they hardly paid attention to where they were going.

As she wore his coat and that wonderful necklace, all while holding his hand and looking into those gorgeous cerulean eyes, Ino finally decided what that feeling was.

It was love. And Uzumaki Naruto was the one to finally make Yamanaka Ino feel it.

Yup, her sanity was definitely going down the drain. Yet somehow she didn't mind, not one bit.


End file.
